The History Show

Gallipoli 100

The History Show and the organisers of the annual Hay Literary Festival in Kells have joined forces, to launch a commemorative event "Gallipoli 100", marking the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the ill-fated WW1 Dardanelles campaign. All events will take place in the Church of Ireland, Cannon St, Kells. It will run from the 24th to the 26th of April 2015, the centenary of the first landings by troops on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey.

The three-day programme of events will commence on the evening of Friday, 24th April with the Francis Ledwidge Memorial Lecture, delivered by the distinguished Irish WW1 historian Philip Orr.

Click on the links below to view or download more information, and a draft schedule of events.

The Irish and World War One

DO YOU HAVE A RELATIVE WHO FOUGHT IN GALLIPOLI?

Close to 15,000 Irishmen fought in Gallipoli during World War I. Almost 4,000 of these soldiers died. Three quarters of the fatalities served in the Volunteer 10th (Irish) Division. This is a staggering fatality rate of almost 27%.

Do you have an ancestor who fought with the Australian forces at Gallipoli?

We’d like to include your stories in our special Gallipoli centenary programme in April. PleaseEmail: history@rte.ie

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Brian Boru - Separating Fact from Legend

The story that many of us will remember from school is a rags to riches tale. It presents Brian Boru as a man who rose from humble origins to become High King of Ireland, and banished the Vikings from the country following a vital victory over them at Clontarf.

Lorcan Clancy spoke to author Eoghan Corry about the origins of this story, and the difficulties involved in separating fact from legend.

Brian as he might have appeared at Battle of Clontarf where Norse warriors thought he was a priest (depiction of saintly King David taken from eleventh-century shrine known as Breac Maodhóg)

Brian Boru's Origins

In the link below, Dr. Catherine Swift examines the tradition that Cormac Cas was buried at Duntryleague Hill, near Galbally, Co. Limerick, and what it tells us about the rise of his descendent, Brian Boru.

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Clontarf Heritage Walking Trail

It's been 1,000 years since the Battle - and Clontarf has changed enormously since then geographically.

Where once perhaps only a few people lived in the area, thousands of people now call it home - and many of them are now helping to organise the 2014 commemoration. Louise Denvir went on the town's new Heritage Walking Trail with Colette Gill, Chair of Clontarf 2014 to find out just what can happen in a thousand years.

Louise also spoke to Professor Colm Lennon, who releases his book on Clontarf's history: That Field of Glory in April 1914.

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Commemorating Clontarf in 1914

The story of the Battle of Clontarf has often been told as that of a great Irish leader driving a foreign enemy - the Danes - out of the country.

At the time of the 900th anniversary of the battle in 1914, this simplified narrative was ripe for politicisation, as we heard from Donal Fallon.

A company of the Irish Citizen Army at Croydon House, Croydon Park, Clontarf, Co. Dublin (the recreation centre of the ITGWU), 1914

Clontarf in 1914: Nationalist commemoration of

the Battle of Clontarf

by Donal Fallon

While the millennium of the Battle of Clontarf has captured the public imagination, previous milestone anniversaries of the iconic moment have likewise had an impact on the populace. In 1914 Irish nationalists organised commemorative events around the theme of Clontarf, and attempted to politicise the historic event in the pages of publications like the Irish Volunteer. Against a backdrop of political uncertainty regarding Home Rule, and with armed volunteers once more appearing on Irish streets, the battle was presented as a definitive victory for a native Irish force over a foreign aggressor.

The nationalist Irish Volunteer newspaper called openly for uniformed Irish men to appear at Clontarf on Easter Sunday, stating that:

Corps throughout the country are eagerly awaiting orders for the big event, and are holding themselves in readiness to send contingents for the fitting celebration of a great National victory. And undoubtedly a Volunteer review will be a fitting and a worthy celebration of Ireland’s victory over the Dane.

An interesting theme that emerged on occasion in the Irish Volunteer and other nationalist publications was the celebration of the assimilation of the Vikings in light of their defeat at the Battle of Clontarf, as Irish nationalists saw it. Thomas McDonagh, in his ‘Marching Song of the Volunteers’, wrote that:

Tired of wayfaring here he found

The welcome due to a valiant foe:

The Viking stock on Irish ground.

Has grown and strongly still shall grow.

In the pages of An Claidheamh Soluis, an editorial soon after the anniversary of the battle outlined a hope that Ulstermen could be won the cause of Ireland, as ‘The Ireland that assimilated the Dane and the Norman should not fail, if opinion were not poisoned by the malicious teachings of the foreigner, to assimilate the Ulsterman.’ The significance of Boru to the Volunteers is clear from the naming of their organised body in Ennis, known as the Brian Boru Corps. It was reported by The Irish Times on 27 May 1914 that the men of the Brian Boru Corps had led a march in the town in celebration of the third reading of the Home Rule Bill, ‘followed by an immense crowd, who cheered John Redmond and Home Rule.’

The year witnessed several commemorations of both the battle and Brian Boru himself. In April, thousands gathered at Kincora, with the Nenagh Guardian proclaiming that 'in a year when we are verging on Home Rule', the rally was a fitting event. The paper noted that:

Never since the days of Brian Boru has world famed Kincora -the birth-place of Ireland's greatest king—come so prominently forward as it did on Sunday last, when thousands of Irishmen of all political and religious beliefs assembled to honour the name of Brian Boru.

The lines between history and contemporary politics were blurred in Kincora, with one speaker informing the crowd if Boru were alive among them 'he would go out for the Irish language and would take part in the Volunteers, and not the Carson Volunteers.' The Volunteers themselves featured in some local commemorations, for example at Fermoy, where a crowd heard from a Reverend chairing proceedings that 'there was no finer example than that of Brian Boru, who, at the head of his army, holding the Crucifix aloft, exhorted his troops to victory in their battle for Faith and Fatherland.'

A writer in the Ulster Herald bemoaned the fact that ‘few throughout the length and breadth of the land’ had marked the anniversary, but did praise the ‘bright, burning fires’ lit in some of the hills of Donegal in honour of Clontarf. The Abbey Theatre in Dublin marked the anniversary with a revival of ‘Kincora’ by Lady Gregory, which was generally well received by the media.

Clontarf and Boru continued to play an important role in the ideology of Irish separatism after 1914. Seamus Daly, a member of the Irish Volunteers, recalled Thomas McDonagh addressing him and others on Holy Thursday 1916, remembering preparing weapons at Clontarf for the insurrection ahead. McDonagh ‘reminded us we were standing on historic ground in Clontarf where Brian Boru had defeated the Danes in 1014’. It seems to some Irish nationalists, Boru was as much a part of their heritage as Tone.

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1014 Retold on Twitter

As part of an ongoing storytelling experiment, events leading up to the Battle of Clontarf are being retold on Twitter from multiple perspectives.

The cast of characters includes Brian Boru himself and King Sitric of Dublin, but also some lesser known figures who nonetheless had pivotal roles in the action.

Digital story producer, Sabina Bonnici, who is one of the brains behind the project described what it's all about.

What is 1014 retold?

The Battle of Clontarf in 1014 resulted in the biggest death toll ever in Irish history. One thousand years on, stories about this famous battle tend to revolve around the High King of Ireland, Brian Boru. Dig a bit deeper into the ancient sources and other perspectives emerge...

1014 RETOLD is a Twitter retelling of the events leading up to the Battle of Clontarf from multiple perspectives.

From 7th April 2014, the people of 1014 come to life on Twitter. As well as Brian Boru, a host of other characters tweet their side of the story, including the little-known Irish queen Gormlaith, Sitric Silkbeard and his wife Slaine, Irish Kings Mael Morda and Mael Sechnaill, and of course viking invaders Sigurd and Brodir.

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On next week's programme.....

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About The Show

Bringing the past to life! Discover how our world was shaped as Myles Dungan and guests explore events ranging from medieval times to the recent past.

We want to help explain ourselves to ourselves. We will search out fresh angles on familiar topics, seek out the unfamiliar and will not shy away from bizarre or controversial issues. Our ultimate goal is to make The History Show the primary port of call for those with an intense or even a modest interest in the subject. We want to entice the casual and the curious to join us in celebrating the past.